Peak Health Wellness Insights Issue 26

Mental Resilience

Optimism is associated with better health outcomes

Findings from this recent study demonstrate that an optimistic mindset is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and also all-cause mortality. This suggests that mindset can influence physical health.

Sleep

Cant sleep? Prebiotics can help

New study shows that prebiotic foods, specifically fibre, which function to nourish our microbiome, can help our sleep. Eating a prebiotic diet is linked with more time in restorative non-rapid-eye-movement sleep, which is a phase of sleep that is important for recovering from stress.

Nutrition

People who eat a big breakfast may burn twice as many calories

New research shows that a meal eaten for breakfast, regardless of calorie count, stimulates our metabolism twice as much as the same meal eaten at dinner. Additionally, not only does eating a larger breakfast reduces blood sugar and insulin concentrations as compared to dinner, but also eating a smaller breakfast increases appetite for sweets. This study suggests that for proper weight management and reducing risk of metabolic disease, it is beneficial to eat a large meal for breakfast and a smaller one for dinner. 

Fitness

Limiting mealtimes may increase motivation for exercise

A new study on mice has found that limiting access to food, thus causing a surge in the hunger hormone, ghrelin, causes them to voluntarily exercise more than mice fed continuously. However, even more interestingly, mice given unlimited access to food and given an artificial spike in ghrelin, also exercised significantly more. This demonstrates that ghrelin is associated with motivation for exercise. These findings suggest that those who are overweight should place emphasis on maintaining a healthy eating routine, or fasting, which may encourage exercise, thus further helping with weight loss. 

---

Productivity Tip

Identify and prioritise the "domino" on your to-do list

The domino is the one task that has the greatest impact on your goals. Try to to do this task first and it will likely lessen the burden of the remaining tasks on your to do list.

Habit Hack of the week

Find your role models

Identify the person(s) that are doing what you want to do and learn from them. Learn from their mistakes and adopt the beliefs, practices, etc from them that worked.